Recent advances in miniaturization by nano-technology have influenced drug development, gene analysis, blood analysis, etc. For example, commercial products lines have emerged that use so-called “Lab-on-a-Chip” technologies for various analyses and/or syntheses. Another common term used to describe activity and research in this field is Micro-Electro-Mechanical Systems (MEMS). Some MEMS Lab-on-a-Chip devices use semiconductor based array technology that allows for preparation and/or analysis of materials with nano-scale control.
While some technologies are exclusively for analyses, others allow for synthesis of large numbers of nano-structured materials. In addition, some technologies allow for testing of synthesized nano-structured materials using chip-based techniques. A microarray platform that includes arrays of microelectrodes may perform electrochemical syntheses and/or analyses. For example, a microarray platform may use controlling currents, voltages, etc., to influence structure and morphology of synthesized material and use the same microelectrodes for analysis of such material (e.g., using resistance or impedance). Consider polymerization of an organic molecule such as a pyrrole to form polypyrroles. A microarray platform may perform such polymerization in times of about 0.5 seconds to about 30 seconds using applied voltages of about 0.25 V to about 0.6 V varied across the array. Such a technique may form several hundred different compositions of polypyrroles using, for example, an array with several hundred reaction cells. The electronic, physical, and chemical properties of the resulting conducting polymers are known to depend on the methods and conditions used for synthesis. Further, such properties may be determined using the microelectrodes in an analysis mode.
A chip-based microarray may include integrated circuits (e.g., arrays of microelectrodes) that are individually addressable using embedded logic circuitry on the chip. Such a chip-based microarray may be used to digitally direct molecular assembly of chemicals in response to a digital command. For example, in the foregoing polypyrrole example, the logic may determine reaction conditions for each of the various reaction cells.
Some chip-based microarrays include so-called “porous reaction layer technology” to permit synthesis and attachment of biomolecules within the layer above a semiconductor surface. Some chip-based microarrays include so-called “virtual flask technology” to confine chemicals at each electrode within a defined virtual column or flask.
Exemplary devices and techniques disclosed herein may use such microarrays technologies and optionally other technologies, whether chip-based or otherwise, to perform analyses and/or syntheses within a patient. In particular, such exemplary devices may perform techniques that allow for analysis of body fluid, communication of analysis results (e.g., to another device whether implanted or external to the patient), drug syntheses, control of analyses, etc. Various exemplary devices and techniques use state-based analysis techniques for robust operation.